Cold Outside
by Pokemonfanthings
Summary: Amb Ketchum and Jay Morgan get stuck. Semi-sequel to my fic 'All I Want for Christmas is You'. Fankids, drama, and cheese. Oneshot.


**Welcome to my eight fanfic!**

 **This fic is similar to my stories 'All I Want for Christmas is You', 'Jaylie's Future', 'Cruise Blues', and 'Z-Charged' because it stars Amber and Jay. I suggest reading All I Want for Christmas is You' because I see that as a good lead-up to this. **

**Enjoy:)**

 **XO**

Cold Outside

 **Description:** Amb Ketchum and Jay Morgan get stuck. Semi-sequel to my fic 'All I Want for Christmas is You'. Fankids, drama, and cheese. Oneshot.

Glossary of Peeps and Places:

Jezz- Jay's cousin, Amber and Jay's best friend, and Amber's boyfriend. He is twenty-three in this.

Logan- son of Meowth and Lucy (a chipotlepeppers OC) he is a Liepard and can speak like a human.

Peruva – Logan's mate. She is also a Liepard and she cannot speak like a human.

Linette- context shall be enough.

Valentino (aka 'Valé')- Jay's boyfriend.

Pip- Amber's Pikachu.

Annastasia- Jay's older sister and Jezz's adoptive mother.

Harper- Jay's nephew and Annastasia's son.

The Grange- Annastasia's home. As the eldest daughter of Jessie and James, she inherited the mansion from James' nanny and pop-pop. It's a Pokémon sanctuary/ home to many tenants.

The cottage- is owned by Jezz. Logan, Peruva, and Jezz legally live there, Linette and Amber are like permanent guests, and Vale and Jay are semi-permanent guests.

Mai Island- a non-cannon island in Alola.

and lastly:

This might not come off as a cheesy Jamber fic at first but I promise it goes there towards the middle/end.

I hope you all enjoy these more grown-up dorks.

 **XO**

It began three nights ago while they were asleep. Two years had passed since Jezz's Xatu had last forced its future vision ability on an innocent sleeping human.

Everyone was stuffed into the cottage that served as their temporary home. Three small bedrooms. One for Amber and Jezz, one for Linette, and one for Peruva and Logan—and a pull-out couch for Valé and Jay, who would frequently sleep over.

They were in sound slumber when a snow tornado invaded their minds. It was all an illusion, but they couldn't know that at the time. Floorboards rose, walls crumbled, and the roof collapsed. An icy wind froze them as if they were assaulted by a z-charged Ice Beam attack. Their home was destroyed, their bodies in pain, hope lost…

They all woke at the same moment.

 _'_ _What the hell was that?'_ Amber thought to herself as she looked to Jezz, who was trying to reground himself after the traumatizingly realistic vision.

"Thanks, Xatu," Jezz mumbled after Linette began screaming.

Everyone ran to the toddler's bedroom. Jay was the first to reach her. She squeezed and tore at Jay's t-shirt until she finally realized that she and the house were fine.

"It's low to pick onna baby," Logan told Xatu.

"Tu," Xatu retorted in its typical nonchalant tone.

"Was that a vision from the future, the past, or something you invented?" Jay queried.

"Xatu Xatu tu."

"He's saying that it's a future vision," Logan translated.

"What was the point of showing that to us?" Jay asked the Mystic Pokémon.

"There is supposed to be a big snowstorm soon," said Jezz. "As you know, all over the world, bad weather has become increasingly violent."

"Xatu~ xa~."

"Xatu says that this place is going to be blown to bits," Logan gulped.

"You have a nice little island in Alola," Jay said to Jezz. "No snow there."

"And your sister would let us take refuge at The Grange," said Valentino.

"How much time do we have?" Jezz asked Xatu.

"Xa~," he answered.

"Three days," Logan repeated in Japanese. "Three days. That's not enough time."

"You are certain that this is the truth?" Jezz asked.

Xatu nodded. The group looked to Jezz, their typically their unofficial leader.

"We must move. Let's get to sleep now and tackle this in the morning," Jezz decided.

"You can sleep after that!?" Jay asked.

"I can sleep through anything," said Jezz.

"You can too," Amber said as she patted Jay on the back.

"I wanna sleep in your bed please Berr," Linette said as she pointed to the bedroom of Amber and Jezz.

"Sure thing," Amber replied.

Linette grabbed Pip's tail and he and led her to their room. Peruva and Logan returned to their room. Jezz convened with Jay and Valé in the kitchen.

"Can you really sleep through anything?" Jay asked.

"Usually," Jezz answered.

"You knew about this beforehand, didn't you?" Valé inquired.

"Correct, but I wasn't going to blow the whistle and make everyone panic," Jez answered. "I figured we'd have a while even if it were to happen. It would be hectic for us to pack and move without a valid reason. I expected a month warning, never three days."

The only noise was a quiet discussion among Valé's Weavile, Rotom, Jay's Ambipom and Togekiss, and Jezz's Delcatty, Vileplume, and Chimecho. Xatu was asleep in the window.

"I hate how Xatu sleeps with his eyes open," Jay whispered. "It gives me the creeps."

"Try living with him," Jezz replied.

"I practically do now."

"If Jay's not going to sleep, then I won't either. Let's pack. There are some things we can get out of the way," said Valé.

"What about our home? It's around the corner. If this place blows, so will our house," Jay pointed out.

"We need to take it one step at a time. It's negative eleven degrees and Jezz has teleport blockers on this place. Do you want to walk home through the dark, cold, woods?" Valé queried.

"Never," Jay responded.

"Then let us at least get Linette's stuff," said Valé.

"And the stuff that Harper always leaves here," said Jay.

"How attached are you and Amb to your kitchen appliances?"

"Your books should come with us."

"And I looove this rug too much to leave it behind."

Jezz sighed; he didn't want to spend the entire night packing. He'd much rather be sleeping.

"I'm going to bed. You can pack up whatever you think is important if you want, but I can't stay awake much longer. It's 1:00 am and I feel as though I just fell asleep."

"Don't worry, we got this," Jay said as he pulled some boxes out of their closet.

"Mmmhmm."

Valé and Jay spent the night prepping for the storm ahead, Jay because he wanted to help, Valé because he knew there was no way he was going to fall asleep with Jay running around. When Amber got up at five, Valé was out cold and Jay was frantically shoving food into a cooler bag.

"Oh my god. You didn't sleep at all?" she asked him.

"I don't remember," Jay replied.

"It doesn't look so bad out there," Amber said as she reached for her boots. "I'm going to disable the teleport blocker. Then we can start bringing stuff to the island."

"I'll go with you," said Jay.

"The blocker is half a mile from here. Pip and I can handle it on our own. Sleep."

Jay ignored her and put on his winter wear, then helped Jezz's Delcatty put on his. Then they stepped out into the snow.

"I have no idea why we still live here," Amber said as she and Jay attempted to slide across the ice without falling.

"I know why," Jay said as he thought about recent events. "Something about the house that I picked out for us being demolished…oh, Keldeo Cove, you were so perfect…"

"It was…but Alola can be fun. I never pictured myself living in Alola, but now that we have a presence there, things will be different from the last time we stayed overnight. The only reason we aren't already there is because we are procrastinating."

The teleport blocker was a black box hidden inside a tree stump. Once disabled, the pair's plan was to have Delcatty bring them back to the cottage using his teleport. But something went wrong; Delcatty's teleport delivered them to unfamiliar territory.

"Where are we?" Amber asked as she looked around the woods. "You brought us to the wrong place."

"I don't think we moved. We are still in the same place," Jay said as he stared at the trees.

"We definitely moved. I practically raised myself in woods. These woods are not the woods near our house, your house, or The Grange. Delcatty, we appreciate you as always, but we don't have time for games."

Delcatty put his head down in shame then yawned loudly. Amber recalled an important fact.

"You get confused when you are tired," Amber sighed sympathetically. "It's okay, I'll figure a way out of this."

"Just use a Full Restore," Jay suggested.

"I'm doing that," Amber said as she zipped open her pack. "Except my pack is empty because someone spent the entire night condensing my stuff into cardboard boxes!"

"Pip, do you know teleport?" Jay calmly asked the Pikachu.

Pip shook his head, Amber rubbed her temples, and Jay held his breath.

"So, are you sure these aren't 'our woods'?" Jay inquired.

"Positive."

"I shoulda brought Togekiss. We go everywhere together. I shoulda woken him up, he wouldn't have minded," Jay lamented. "What do we do? Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad. Not 'angry' mad, perhaps maybe slowly going crazy," Amber replied. "Let's walk and see if we can find civilization. Hopefully, we'll find a friendly wild Pokémon that can explain things to Pip. Meanwhile, Delcatty, you should get some rest."

Amber touched her belt. She had the empty Pokeballs of Pip, Pidgeot, Charizard, Fearrow, Unfeasant, and Mimikyu on her.

"All my Pokémon at the Poke Pelago and I don't have your Pokeball. Jezz must have recently used it," Amber told Delcatty. "Maybe you can fit into one of these."

Amber and Jay tried using all their empty Pokeballs on Delcatty, but the catlike Pokémon couldn't stay in any of them despite his desire to rest.

"I'll carry you," Jay offered. "Amb, you be the guard since you have the weapon and fighting skills, and I am like…strong."

"Dela," Delcatty said as he declined Jay's offer.

"You are our best shot at getting out of here. You need to rest. Every once in a while, you can try again, but it's best not to use up all your moveslots if you're confused," Amber reasoned.

Jay carried Delcatty over his shoulder and Pip stood behind as if the Pikachu could possibly catch the seventy-three-pound cat or Jay if either of them fell. Amber drew an arrow and they walked forward.

"Why are you so quiet?" Amber asked after a while.

"Saving my breath," Jay huffed.

"De~," Delcatty apologized.

Amber stopped and asked Jay to put Delcatty on the ground. She handed Jay her bow and then lifted the cat.

"We'll take turns," Amber said as Jay stared at her bow in confusion.

"This is your good bow. You never let anyone touch this before—not even Jezz," he said in awe.

"I was never trapped in unfamiliar woods with zero resources," she replied. "And I don't' think you are capable of breaking it. You know how to shoot. It's not much different from my other bows. Just don't shoot anything unless I tell you."

While Jay had only lasted twenty minutes holding the cat, Amber managed an hour and a half. Then it started to hail. Pip covered them with Protect, but since it was hard for the Pikachu to walk and cover at the same time, they soon had to sit down for a break.

"How long have we been gone?" Jay asked as he stroked the sleeping cat's fur.

Amber instinctively reached into her pocket only to remember that neither she nor Jay had their phones.

"I have no idea. At least an hour and a half. I can tell by the sun," she answered.

Amber could tell Jay was ready to snap. No sleep, cold, hungry, terrified, and probably thirsty and likely in need of a bathroom break. They talked for a while, then Jay passed out. Amber and Pip tried to think of what to do next.

"This is the deepest shit I've been in a while," she whispered.

"Pika~" Pip agreed.

Pip's protect was winding down. Amber knew she couldn't just sit in the woods and hope for a heroine; this was all on her and Jay but mostly her, in her opinion.

She let Jay rest for an hour, then carefully lifted him off the comfort of her lap and slung her bow over her shoulder. Pip used Agility, prepping himself for the unknown. Amber and Pip took a few steps forward and then looked back at Jay and Delcatty's sleeping forms. They were completely defenseless. Amber didn't want to leave them for a moment, particularly Jay, who had no means of protecting himself.

"Stay with him," Amber told Pip. "I can't leave him alone and I can't sit. It's up to me to pull us out of this mess."

Pip hesitated, but eventually, he followed his trainer's directions. Amber marched forward.

 **XO**

Amber looked to the sky to check on the sun. She calculated four hours had passed since she and Jay became stranded. Amber noted how this is the first time she had ever been alone.

 _'_ _All the wild Pokémon are either hiding or they fled,'_ she noted. ' _Because the storm is coming. They can somehow tell.'_

Her stomach growled and she thought about Jay, whose metabolism was significantly higher than hers. If dinner was the last time he ate, he'd be starving by now. Four hours since they left. It was about ten-thirty, perhaps later.

She decided to circle back one last time. Jay was still asleep.

' _Good,'_ she told herself. "Pip, thank you for watching over him."

Pip pointed to the forest then jumped.

"You wanna go looking?"

"Pi," Pip confirmed.

Amber has been Pip's trainer the Pokémon's entire life, having cared for him since he was an egg. It was as if Amber was his mother and Jay was his father. She and Jay were there when he hatched, they taught him his first attack, and they witnessed almost every battle he has participated in. Pip saved their lives, and they saved him. Though she knew he was strong, letting him wander without her was a painful decision. She eventually decided to let him go.

"If there is a danger, call and I'll come running," she told the Pikachu. "Little danger, 'Pikapi!' and big danger, say 'pi~ka~!'. Understand?"

Pip nodded, practiced the two cries, then ran away. She watched until she couldn't see his yellow form anymore. The sight of him running away made her want to cry, and Jay's snores reminded her of how horrible of a friend she was for letting this happen. Jay stirred an hour after Pip left.

"I forgot we were trapped," he said in a raspy voice. "I am so thirsty."

"I've been eating snow," Amber said as she handed him a snowball.

"Thanks. OMG! PIP IS GONE!"

The outburst was sudden. Jay stood and looked around.

"He's okay," said Amber. "He left a little while ago to go look around."

"Oh," Jay breathed as he sat back down. "How long was I asleep?"

"Three hours, maybe longer."

"Jeez. You musta been bored as a brick staring at itself in a mirror."

"I was."

"And worried about Linette and Jezz, right? I hope no one is panicking, especially Valé."

"I don't think Valé is capable of panicking; he's the most relaxed person I know. If anyone is the basket case, it's Jezz. But he's fine. I don't think me being gone for a few hours without my phone or Pokémon is enough to give him a heart attack."

"I don't want to complain when we are already screwed, but I am STARVING. How long can humans go before they die of hunger?"

"Three days, though maybe only two for you since you usually eat about 3,000 calories a day, if not more."

"Now I'm scared."

"We aren't going to starve to death. Delcatty will be up any moment, then we can go home."

"Delcatty doesn't look like he's waking up anytime soon. And he'll be hungry. I don't think he can use teleport when his energy is so low."

"We'll think of a way."

Pip returned and upon his arrival, passed out.

"This sucks," Amber said as she put Pip in his Pokeball. "I ran Pip to the ground. In addition to being a horrible Pokémon trainer, I lost a resource."

"You sound anxious."

"I am anxious because I am hungry. I can almost taste Valé's pancakes."

"I've been imagining his eggplant parmigiana. No one makes it better than him. It's his Nona's recipe. I miss him."

"Aren't I enough?"

"Yeah, but you don't have any eggplant parmigiana on you."

The duo lied in the snow. Amber took Jay's hand. Though he was wearing gloves, she could tell they were freezing. She sat up and pull the gloves off both his hands.

"What are you doing?" Jay asked as she forced her gloves over his hands.

"Mine are warmer," she said as she put on Jay's.

She started rubbing their hands together, and the static electricity warmed them. Jay felt significantly better.

"Soon yours are going to get cold," he noted.

"I can handle it."

Delcatty's warm body barely covered both of them. Amber learned from her father that Pokeballs are temperature-controlled, so no doubt Pip was warmer in there than he would be if he were out with them. She felt guilty for Delcatty's probably suffering.

It was far past noon when Amber decided to make a snow cave. She refrained originally to preserve the warmth of her hands, but now their feet and legs felt like ice packs were being applied to their bare skin. Once inside, they began to slowly warm up.

"We are going to die out here," Jay whispered. "Four weeks before it's officially spring, we'll die. We are going to die young. I'm not ready. There is still so much more to do."

"Thanks for the pep talk," Amber responded.

"I am going to go crazy. You and I are going to starve, freeze to death, get attacked by a giant wild beast, or I will give myself a heart attack. I don't know which would be the worst."

"I think I would want the wild Pokémon to get me. At least I could go down fighting. But, I don't want to die either. I don't want Linette's second mom to leave on her."

Jay held his breath. He had been vainly thinking about what it would be like to go, never considering the fact that Amber was in as much danger as he was, and she had just as much—if not more—to lose.

"Amb, I feel like I really let you down," he whimpered.

"I am the one who is responsible for getting us fucked."

"You're not. Please don't say that."

"I won't."

They took a few minutes to breathe, think, and hug.

"I think it's happening," Jay said suddenly. "I am going crazy. Feel my heart: it's racing."

Amber smiled at Jay's melodrama. As he requested, he touched his heart, and while it had notably sped up, she had felt much worse in the past.

"We'll get through this. You and I have been through worse," she soothingly murmured.

"I can't think of anything," Jay sniffled.

"There is the time we stole the Meowth balloon and ended up stranded at sea, the time we got caught in the tide at the Orange Archipelago, and the time you shot Jezz with an arrow," she continued. "And the time we took on the incarnation of death itself."

Jay didn't say anything so Amber kept talking.

"You once thought that we were going to die in that fire you accidentally started. And that time me, you, and Jezz got trapped in the past. And Jezz has practically died and come back to life multiple times. Surely some of that dumb luck has rubbed off on us."

"It's hard to find a ray, though," Jay finally replied.

"Happy thoughts. You're a happy guy, don't lose that light."

The sun started to set and Delcatty had yet to rise. Though Delcatty was better rested, warmer, and no doubt tougher than both humans put together, it couldn't have been easy for him. Then there was Pip, who had never fainted in battle. Despite being her strongest Pokémon, even Pip had a limit.

Jay fell asleep before she did that night. Jay had a habit of squeezing the life out of the person next to whom he slept, which was often her. As usual, Amber enjoyed the feeling of being squeezed by her soft best friend. Deep into the night, she wanted to do more searching, but she knew that they would have no better luck in the dark and that Jay could get frostbite if they parted. Their only hope was for a fellow hunter, Pokémon, or Pokémon trainer to spot them—if they didn't try to kill them first.

Jay smiled in his sleep, and she imagined what he could be dreaming about. Most likely food, or Valentino, or the kid that they have been raising together since she dropped into their lives. Or maybe it was something relating to his Pokémon. Maybe he was winning another league, or a medal of honor, reliving some victory…at least no nightmares. Her adrenaline settled and she managed to get three hours of sleep before sunrise. Jay was awake before her.

"Are you okay?" he asked the moment she opened her eyes.

"Relatively. I have never been this long without food," she groaned before shoving some snow into her mouth.

"Me neither," said Jay. "And I have to pee."

"I've had to pee for twelve hours. I am going to go in the woods soon if I can't find help."

"I can't do it. It's gross. I'd rather die."

"I figured you'd say that."

Delcatty was still asleep. Amber again chided herself for not grabbing Delcatty's Pokeball before they left, and Jay was upset for leaving Togekiss behind. He and Togekiss had been inseparable for over two decades, and now they were apart and the feeling was desperate loneliness.

After Amber peed, she attempted to get Jay to do it, but he refused. She seriously believed he'd rather die.

The two were too weak to carry Delcatty, but their options were limited. Jay's adrenaline was getting to him. Amber wasn't going to let her defenseless friend go alone. After about an hour of both silent and spoken debate, they decided to leave Delcatty, reasoning it was more humane to go searching for help than it was to babysit the creature. The chances of a wild Pokémon attacking another 'wild' Pokémon was uncommon. Angry creatures went after humans far more often than they go after fellow Pokémon. So, they left him and walked hand in hand.

"I'm horrible," Jay said multiple times.

"If you're horrible, then I'm worse," Amber replied.

"I don't' think you are horrible. The situation is horrible."

"Agreed."

Amber led Jay in a direction she hadn't yet explored much. Jay looked back every few moments to check on Delcatty, even after the creature had faded from view. They took turns calling out for help, but the only response were echoes. It was if every Pokémon and human were gone. They didn't spot any animals, either. No wild quail or squirrels…it was unusual, even for this time of year. Amber reasoned that it was because of the upcoming storm. No doubt the upcoming blizzard would affect most of Kanto—assuming that the confused Delcatty didn't take them out of their home region.

"If we die, I just want to let you know that I love you and that I am so happy that I am not alone," Jay blurted.

Jay stopped walking to hug her as if his life depended on it, and since they were both freezing and their jackets soaked as if his life did depend on her.

"I always imagined that when we'd go, we'd go together," Amber replied. "Although I figured that the trip down would be more exciting than slowly running out of food, water, warmth, and bladder space."

"Same."

"We'll be okay. We still have more time. We can't give up, not on ourselves, not on each other. People must be searching for us. I bet we are still in Kanto. You and I got a rep. No doubt there are a lot of people out trying to find us."

Jay hummed and they continued to walk. Amber felt ready to collapse at any moment but she didn't say this to Jay, mostly because Jay fainted before she did. She thought she had been alone before, but now she was truly alone. She could tell he was still alive—that is the first thing she checked for—but he was surely going to die soon if no one helped her.

Amber pulled Jay onto her lap. She was almost too tired to carry herself, and without a doubt, she wouldn't be able to carry or drag Jay more than a few feet before her own strength gave out. The sun was high when she felt herself slip away.

 **XO**

Delcatty woke in a patch of forest he had never seen before. Faces he didn't recognize gazed at him. He recoiled, fearing danger.

"It's okay, lil-buddy," a man with a gun told the Pokémon. "I just gave you a Revive. I have some berries for you too."

The woman beside the man fed Razz and Sitrus berries to the Pokémon. Delcatty felt his strength return, but he became dismayed when he saw that Jay and Amber weren't present. He cried.

"What's wrong?" the woman asked. "Do you not want a trainer? We aren't trainers, we are hunters we saw that you weren't a deer and came to help. We carry Revives and berries in case we come across injured Pokémon. We don't capture or hurt Pokémon, we promise."

Delcatty took in the words. ' _Hunters are safe people,'_ he told himself. ' _Like Amber, because she's a hunter. Maybe they know Amber. Everyone seems to know her.'_

Delcatty attempted to explain the situation, but the humans couldn't understand.

"It's terrified. Let's bring it to Jim," the woman decided.

The man lifted Delcatty, but Delcatty jumped off his back. He sniffed the air. There was a trace of Amber. He knew Amber's sent almost as well he knew the scent of Jezz. He charged in that direction. The woman and man tried to follow the Pokémon.

Delcatty found Amber and Jay on the ground. It was almost nightfall and Delcatty had no idea how long they had been like that, or why he received help and they didn't. He cried and snuggled them until the hunters caught up.

"Whoa," the man said as he pulled out his phone. "We don't see this every day."

The woman tried to shake the two awake, but they didn't budge. Two minutes after the man dialed 911, five rescuers teleported to the spot. The helpful strangers followed Amber, Jay, and Delcatty to the hospital.

"These people have been missing since yesterday," one of the rescue works explained to the hunters, who had an endless amount of questions. "Ever hear of Amber Ketchum?"

"That name sounds familiar. We aren't Pokémon trainers, we don't know much about that world," the woman confessed.

"She's a very famous and skilled trainer, and so is her partner. The fact that the two of them left without warning, without their phones and only two Pokémon was shocking to their families and the public."

"We only saw one Pokémon with them," the man responded.

"There was a Pikachu in one of Amber's Pokeballs. It has been revived and is explaining what happened to one of our translators."

A hospital worker explained how both Jay and Amber were fine and that their families arrived, so the hunters went to the room where Delcatty and Pip were supposedly explaining the situation. Their translator was an Alola Meowth with an accent almost too thick for anyone to understand. Within a minute, two distressed Liepard invaded the area. Pip and Delcatty were so relieved to them, and they embraced Logan and Peruva before continuing their story.

"They are saying that this was all a big accident," Logan explained after hearing the first part of their story.

Pip and Delcatty recounted the entire story to the hunters, Liepard, a police officer, and several hospital workers. Meanwhile, Jezz and Vale were trying to see Amber and Jay.

"They need to rest," the staff insisted. "And no small children in the area."

Linette pouted and Valentino and Jezz groaned.

"It's not fair. Berr is mine," Linette insisted.

"We just need to know what is happening," Jezz whispered as he faked a smiled for Linette. "We are in the dark. 'They are going to be okay' is much too vague."

"A peek," Valentino insisted.

The worker looked around and then discreetly allowed the three of them to enter the room. Amber was on one side of the room, Jay on the other, and they were both sitting up and chugging water.

"For once I am the one with the IV," Jay said as Jezz and Valé went up to his bed.

"I saw that you undid the teleport blocker, what I don't understand is what happened after that," Jezz said as he sat on the edge of Amber's bed.

Amber and Jay looked to one another. They had barely spoken since before Jay crashed. But, they were still in sync, as always.

"It's a long story," they said together.

 **XO**

Amber and Jay were discharged within an hour of their arrival with strict instructions to rest. One of the most shocking, if not the most shocking fact about the situation was the news they received shortly after their return.

"No storm is coming," Valé told them. "It was a mistake."

Amber almost squeezed the life out of Jay, who was closest to her, despite the cause of her rage being Xatu.

"I am going to kill it. That's it, this is the final straw," Amber decided. "Jezz, take me home so that I can strangle Xatu."

"Hear us out," Jezz requested as they stepped through the hospital doors. "It was a misunderstanding. Xatu became confused. This is all my fault. It turns out he wasn't fully recovered from the battle you and I had two days ago. After some rest, Xatu realized his mistake and warned us, but you two were already gone. There is a storm coming—but our hous and we will all be fine."

Amber calmed her nerves. She wanted to blame someone, but they were out of people to blame. It was one misunderstanding after another. An ongoing nightmare that was now over.

"Linette drew you a picture while you were 'having a vacation day'," Jezz said as they entered the warm cottage.

"What is it?" Amber asked the toddler.

"You, Pip, Linette, Logan, Pidgey-Jezz, Jay-Jay, Togekiss, Weavile, and me," Valé said as Linette pointed to each person on the paper.

"And Pererer," Linette added as she pointed to one smushed character on the far right.

"Liepar," Peruva commented, noting how the toddler still couldn't correctly pronounce her name.

"This is excellent," Amber told Linette as she stared at the crayon drawings.

Jay was the first to notice the ten half-opened gift baskets that littered the floor. Jay and Pip sprang forward, eager to stuff their faces with as much chocolate, nuts, fruit, and popcorn they could get their paws on.

"Whoa, a lot of people missed us. We weren't even gone for that long, though it felt like a long time," Amber said as she picked a bag of pistachios off the ground. "Either that or you already announced our deaths. Who sent all this stuff?"

"Annastasia sent those," Jezz said as he pointed to the bag of nuts Amber was eating. "And almost all of this stuff came from your fans. Annie sent the pistachios because she knows they are your and Jay's favorite."

"They are," Jay said as he opened a bag for himself.

"She was going to come, but we told her that you and Amber were okay so she decided to give you space to rest. Your parents are going to be here any minute."

"I feel another family feud coming on," Jay said as he pictured a face-off between Jessie and Misty.

"It already began," said Valé. "But they love you. That's why they are like that."

Jezz and Vale wanted to go on about how worried they were, how sorry they were that they could not help them, and how relieved they were that they were back and safe. But they didn't talk about that because Linette was within hearing distance. Instead, they talked about the upcoming spring, and how nice it would be despite the showers to come.

 **XOXOXO**

Notes: 

\+ Thank you all for reading. Please give me some feedback or leave a comment if you have the chance:)


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